The Case of the Missing Kinump Seeds

In October of 2012, Egg Cave revealed its second plot on the site. Titled The Case of the Missing Kinump Seeds, users were encouraged to feed as many creatures as they could to obtain Kinump Seeds that were stolen by the Grubbugs! However, the mystery didn't stop there. We knew that the Grubbugs were stealing seeds, but we didn't know why. It was up to the residents of Ark to put a stop to the bug in charge of the operation!

Day 0: Ominous Blog Post

On October 23rd, an eerie blog post was created and featured nothing more than three Grubbug images. The lack of any text had some users wondering if the post was just a glitch or if there was something more mischevous going on in Ark.

Days 1 & 2: The Search for the Kinump Seeds

The first two days of the Halloween Plot, October 24th and 25th respectively, were focused on simply reclaiming lost seeds. You could find Kinump Seeds by feeding creaures on the website. Along with the regular gain of EC, there was a chance for a pop-up window to appear after feeding a creature. The message exclaimed that you've found a Kinump Seed, which was added to your total number at the Plot Headquarters.

The Halloween Prize Shop was also released on the first day and had 7 great prizes to choose from!

Days 3 & 4: The Arrival of Edgar

On October 26th, the Science and Research Center managed to capture a rather eccentric Grubbug named Edgar. Despite being tight-lipped about the operation, Edgar sure had a lot to talk about regarding everything else. Interestingly, some of his dialogue was oddly capitalized for no apparent reason. Users who picked up on this pattern discovered the letters HUASQS, which could be rearranged to spell out SQUASH.

Heh, I wish we coulda met under normal circUmstances, since yA seem pleasant enough if ya forget 'bout dis whole interrogation Setup. Questions n' all ain't really my Strong suit.

Inputting SQUASH in the text field on Edgar's page would make Edgar become anxious and accidentally spill the beans on where his "boss" was hiding. Users who completed this step were rewarded with 75 Kinump Seeds. There were also five eggs that rewarded 5 Seeds each if entered into the text field.

  • Meteoroid
  • Orderedchaos
  • Annapashmina
  • Plookle
  • byfelisa

Days 5 & 7: The Grubfather

October 28th, after examining the information Edgar revealed about the location of the boss, the Science and Research Center narrowed the headquarters to be somewhere around the Northern forests of Ark.

Clicking on the hidden link shown above would take you to the Grubfather's Headquarters. As it turned out, the Grubfather was actually only a Grubbug larvae with a strong penchant for business tactics. Upon discovery, the Grubfather challenged users to a little game that was essentially a coin flip but with Kinump Seeds.

If you managed to beat all seven rounds of "Flip the Seed", the Grubfather conceded defeat and handed over all the stolen Kinump Seeds. There was even a reward of 100 Seeds! The ultimate plan of the Grubfather was to have a monopoly on every Kinump in existence. As well as having a year round supply of Kinump to eat, Grubbugs would have been able to make a profit by selling the poor things at insane prices! Luckily, the citizens of Ark managed to put a stop to the Grubfather's business. Before disappearing completely, the young Grubbug left a little note...

Tanks fer playin'! Jus' wait 'til next time! Remembah? I wuz gonna stop stealin' seeds, not stop 'aving fun! Bwahaha!

Only 41 users managed to beat the Grubfather!

Halloween Prize Shop

As a reward for collecting Kinump Seeds, users were allowed to redeem them for prizes at the Science and Research Center! These creatures were exclusively found in the Halloween Prize Shop, boosting the determination of Arkians to find as many Kinump Seeds as they could!


Kinump Patch
(RETIRED FROM TA)
Cost: 100 Seeds

Haunted Woods
(RETIRED FROM TA)
Cost: 100 Seeds

Abet
Cost: 450 Seeds

Scorbis
Cost: 350 Seeds

Gryp
Cost: 225 Seeds

Skrute
Cost: 225 Seeds

Kinump
Cost: 525 Seeds

Conclusion

Thank you for all your hard work! The Grubfather no longer is hoarding seeds and the Kinump species will continue to thrive onwards! Our little Grubbug buddy, Edgar, has decided to atone for his actions by helping us with work here at the Science and Research Center. He'll be conducting field work for firsthand research on the island, which will undoubtedly expand our knowledge of Ark's history and inhabitants even further! Of course, we'll keep an eye on the guy as far as Kinump "research" goes. Thank you again for helping us solve The Case of the Missing Kinump Seeds!

Thank you for participating in Egg Cave's 2012 Halloween Bash! The plot came to a close at 11:59 PM ECT on October 31st. Over the course of the Kinump Seeds plot, 603,726 Seeds were collected. It's estimated that there were ~3,018,630 Feeds for the duration of the plot, which sets a new record at Egg Cave! Of the thousands that entered the plot, only 41 beat the Grubfather.

The Halloween Prize Shop remained open until November 20th, allowing users to take their time when choosing prizes.